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I really enjoyed reading three articles. I find the idea of creative inquiry, and how we bring together the mind the heart interesting. For this discussion, I thought that I would post more about an interesting facet. It’s been enjoyable to read so many papers by Montuori (see Montuori 2006, 2008, 2012; Montuori and Donnelly, 2013). The understanding I get from his description and definition of creative inquiry is that, that I don’t remember him directly saying but seems to be implied, is that there is this continuum between a more reproductive style and a more narcissistic style with creative inquiry being placed to flow in the middle between the two. His writing really seems to embody this concept of writing with a high caliber of academic rigor and yet creative and imaginative word pictures.

In Montuori (2006) article, as a description of students wanting to do more creative works with their dissertation, that the opposite could be described as Veraform appendix of their advisors research agenda. I had to look up both Veraform (2019) and Veraform appendix (2019) and the picture of a students forced, non creative dissertation as being a worm like shape or a “a vestigial process that extends from the lower end of the cecum and that resembles a small pouch” made me laugh. As a bit of a side note, I’ve always loved words. As I started collecting copies of words that were new or interesting to me back in 2014. For years I’ve been just saving them to a text file (I have this weird thing about plain text). A couple of weeks ago, after coming back from the intensive and starting the readings, I created a space on my website that I could post definitions, photos, and mini stories about the word (mostly because I wanted to be able to look back at words that I’ve saved over the years). I don’t have have my little dictionary pages exactly how I want them, but I find it It a creative problem solving activity to have to teach myself how to do the small bits of web programing and automation stuff that I like to do. You could see the entry at https://jacobrcampbell.com/dictionary/vermiform/.

Another phrase that really stuck out to me was Montuori (2006) describing the fascination with new age were he described them as “the development of ever more elaborate and omnivorous concep­tual systems” (p. 5). I just found it a great descriptive phrase to think of this tradition taking in one and all other styles of thought into their attention.

For a final phrase that stood out to me was Montuori (2006) description of a image of the tweedy profes­sor who he describes as “all up in his head.” As an adjunct faculty, I’ve frequently joked with friends and family about wanting to buy a sport coat with The pataches on the elbows. While I almost never wear a suit / sports coat, I just like the idea of being able to be recognized as a professor. Not to be dispassionate or be almost Vulcan (if you aren’t familiar with Star Trek, the wikipedia page would be a good place to start - Vulcan [Star Trek], 2019) if you through Montuori’s description of the professor in question.

I also figured I would share a couple of things. First I’m attaching two versions (pdf and image) of the Mind Map I created in reading the articles to help me synthize the them for my paper. I use an app called mind node and I like to keep things digitally… but I find Mind Mapping to be incredibly useful however you do it. It is really more just my notes, so don’t judge me for typos and misspellings. I will also attach my paper I submitted which is a little more focused than my rambling discussion of three things that stood out to me in one of the required readings.